Creating Something From Nothing

May 16, 2013

“If you can learn the art of making something from nothing in this world, by leveraging the resources of the universe, you will never want for anything because you can always make more.”

Those words were uttered by Dr. Rajiv Tandon, or as I call him, the Wise Man From The East. The Indian-born engineer and educator is Chairman, President & CEO of Adayana, a global organizational performance improvement provider. He is also truly one of the smartest people I have ever met, and has left a rare legacy in academia, the corporate world and as a successful serial entrepreneur.

I only see him a few times a year, and hadn't thought of his words of wisdom for quite a while. A series of "fortunate events" I am still trying to make sense of has me reflecting on my own recent efforts to make something from nothing with 3 Second Selling.

I have also been thinking about other successful entrepreneurs who have been put in my path for various reasons, including the owner of this site, Gregg Dourgarian. He grew up with plenty of entrepreneurial influences from his father, who started Manpower's tech services division, and then went on to become a Manpower franchisee in California. Gregg also built an airline diagnostic and training software system called Supertrace, that to this day helps keep airline reservation systems running smoothly worldwide.

The apple didn't fall far from that tree, as David Dourgarian, Gregg's son, who had been programming since the age of 12, now runs the day to day operations of TempWorks as President & CEO. David's sister, and Gregg's daughter, also transitioned from software development to company controller.

I also think back to several staffing agency entrepreneurs and executives from across the country I met last summer at The Works, TempWorks’ first-ever industry conference. Many of the attendees are truly trying to create something where it did not exist previously, and having success.

My latest entrepreneurial efforts were borne out of frustration, as is often the case. I had a 10-year-old communications consulting business that was becoming increasingly commoditized.

So if you don’t like the story, you go looking for ways to change the headline, as Karl Rove, senior advisor to George W. Bush, was fond of saying - and doing.

Specifically in my case, I wanted to author something original, something that would better utilize my unique skills and experiences, something that used more of me. Something from nothing, n'est ce pas?

I have indeed gone from nothing, a blank canvas, and progressed down the path to a steady stream of speaking and consulting engagements, as well as thought leadership.

And at the conclusion of each of my last three speeches, someone has come up to me and said, "I think we are supposed to meet."

So maybe Paulo Coelho, author of The Alchemist, was right when he said that when you want something, the universe does conspire to help you achieve it.

When you want something, the universe does conspire to help you achieve it.

Where is this all leading, and how are all the dots going to be connected? I'm not sure. But I'm going with it though, journeying excitedly and enthusiastically into a future filled with new professional opportunities and personal growth.

I'll now defer to Dr. Tandon to tie a bow on it, and circle back to our starting point.

The ability to create something where nothing existed previously comes from practice. Once you have done it a few times, you have this internal belief you will succeed and it will work out. It may not work out the way you intended, but that's okay, because then it was meant to be that way. Only in hindsight does your life make sense. As you're going through it each of these forks in the road appear to be random and without pattern. The pattern emerges as you look back."

So to everyone trying to create something from nothing, good luck. Here's to looking back as we all move forward!